The Mechanical Era

It was another day as Kant sat in his office working on settling little disputes among the citizens. It was a bit boring, but it was a job that needed to be done. On the fields, the recruits were training hard all day, hoping to become professionals at their craft.

Arjun on the other hand was tasked with finding a place for Kant and his future team to begin their project, renovating the building a bit to suit Kant's preferences that he ordered, and sending off letters to the people Kant requested.

As Kant was working, there was a knock on the door. He figured out who it was, as he requested a certain maid to do him a favor yesterday.

"Come in," he says. Cora, the fair blond maid in her black attire, comes in holding a silver tray with an empty ceramic cup and a teapot with steam leaving the trout. She places it down and fills Kant's cup with some black coffee.

"Thank you Cora." he takes a piece of paper and writes down on it.

'Did you find anything about Arjun?' it says. Cora took the quill and wrote her answer.

'A letter had arrived from Nexert from his majesty to increase security. That's all we got so far.' she then gives the quill to Kant.

'What about Kristina.' he wrote on the beige paper. Cora took something out of a hidden pocket on her little overskirt and gave it to Kant. It was a small book, similar to the one Kant carried around with him. She then took back the quill and wrote something on the paper.

'Here's a bit of history on her. The ones I managed to snuggle at least.'

'Is it at least important?' Kant writes in black ink.

'The most important of them all' She writes. She was about to leave the room but was stopped by Kant. He gives her the drawings for the modern suit he wanted and instructs her on one more task.

"Please give this to Arjun. I was supposed to give it to him yesterday but it slipped out of my mind." Kant requested.

"As you wish sire," she replied. With that, she left the room. Kant placed the book in the drawer, tore up the paper he communicated Cora with, and threw it in the bin. He then continued to work on the disputes until they were all completed.

Only after he finished, he started reading what was on the pages. The first pages of the book describe, not Kristina, but someone else.

"Mr. Paul Robins..." Kant mutters under his breath.

...

Walking down the hall to the receptionist was a knight in a suit of armor, holding his choice of weapon, an enchanted longbow, on his back along with an empty arrow bag. The man had short black hair, with hazel eyes, and a sleek face. He approached the receptionist and asked her a question.

"Hello there. You got some quest for me?" he asked.

"Actually yes. I do," she replied. The receptionist takes out the rolled piece of beige paper and hands it to the man. He unravels it and reads the thing.

"A quest from the knight commander?" he asked.

"Yes. There have been reports of some powerful demon lurking around. The knight commander asks you to kill it before it harms anyone."

"It says here it's located west of the island. That's the other side of the river. Are you sure you just want me to do it?" he asks.

"Take a party with you if you want. All the information you need to know is on the paper," she replied.

"I am not sure. Not many people are up to go out for today."

"Did you not read about the rewards?"

"It's not written here."

"It isn't?" the receptionist took the paper back and realized her mistake.

"Ah. I apologize. The reward for completing the mission would be 125 gold coins." she gives him the paper back to him.

"Well, that's all you had to say! Why don't you all lead with that first?" he replied. After accepting his quest, the man walked outside the knight hall. He looked around for someone to partner with, wanting aid in this mission.

All around, many of them were not in a suit of armor, but their royal uniform of a gray topping, with either red, blue, or green leggings to go with it.

From the corner of his eye, he spots somebody. A woman, with ruby red hair, and sharp emerald eyes in a suit with her spear, ready to go at any moment. The two looked at each other, and the man decides to walk over.

"Hey man, I got this really dangerous yet extremely rewarding quest. You want to go?" he asks the man in a royal uniform next to the woman.

"Hey! I am here you know!" she said to the man.

"Hmm... I don't know. I don't think you will be able to manage. What do you think Carl?" the man asked the other man next to him. While the women frowned, Carl just chuckled.

"I am sorry Paul, I am off today. I won't be able to join. Maybe you should take her instead." Carl replied.

"Alright then, if you say so. Come on Kristy. Let's go." The couple started walking away from the knight hall.

"So what's the mission about?" Kristina asked.

"About killing off some powerful demon over at the west. Payout is high."

...

Before they went off on their quest, the two rode down to a rather large house built of polished stone bricks and featuring glass windows, symbolizing the wealth of the owners who lived here.

The two walked inside. The floor was made out of oak wood planks, the same as used on the roof of the house. As they close the door behind them, a little girl, who looked to be at the age of 6, was peaking in the corner along with a boy 2 years younger.

She had black hair that reached up to her shoulder. She wore a dress pink in color with white 'S' patterns etched at the bottom part of the dress. The boy's hair was a ruby fusion in color, with a cute round face and emerald green eyes. He wore a blue dress, with white flowers threaded on the bottom instead.

"Papa's home!" Paul called out. The children rush towards his arms, however,, the girl was much faster than the boy due to their age difference.

"Mama! Papa!" they call out in joy. Paul picks the little girl up and tosses her in the air, while Kristina took hold of the boy.

"How's my little girl? Did you just wake up?" he asks his daughter, while the others just watched on envious of her. The daughter nodded in agreement.

"I assume you woke a bit later my little boy?"

"Yes mamma." the boy responded.

"Say, what have you two been doing while mommy and daddy were gone?" Paul asked.

"I have been playing with little brother after auntie fed us both. He is still so slow when trying to catch me" she responded.

"It's not fair! You are too fast! Why don't you let me win?" the boy responded.

"Now now. You two better not argue around Mommy and Daddy now. We just come back home you know?" Kristina said to her children. Paul smiled.

"Come on, let's go to the table," he said. They walked over to find the maid working there. The woman, who was dressed in a black maid gown, had her black hair tied like a knot with a wooden stick. She was found cleaning the tables.

"Welcome back home Mr. and Ms. Robin,," she said as she bowed.

"How was everything?" Kristina asked.

"It all went well madam. The children were not a hassle," she replied.

"Did they eat well?"

"Yes, Madam. They ate their food. It was hard, but I fed them anyhow."

"Those green beans are disgusting!" the little girl responded.

"Now. Now. Those are healthy for you Angela. It helps you and your brother grow strong."

"Well good. Kids, we will be going out again in a few minutes for a mission. We came to get some more arrows we have in the storage." In response,, their children hugged their parents even harder, not willing to let go of them.

"NO! Mama and Papa just came!" she argued. Her brother seems to agree. The stubborn kids refused to leave their parent's arms.

"Now, now. We are not going right now. It's too soon! But yes, mommy and daddy will have to go."

"But why?" she asks.

"Sweetie. We are the ones who protect other people's ma's and pa's. Imagine how sad your friends would feel if they lost theirs." Paul tells his children.

"I promise you. Mama and Papa will be back. Like we always do." he said.

"Promise?" Angela asked.

"Promise."